Friday, January 7, 2011

Homeschool Wrap Up (lightly sprinkled with some good news)

Vacation is over and I'm back with the goal to finish well with homeschooling Jie Jie this semester. So, this month is themed "Winter"...lots you can do with this, but a lot you can't do living in a part of the world where it doesn't snow. (Not complaining...b/c I love that fact!)
Anyway, here are some pics of things we've been doing this week:

Materials used: felt, safety pin,
and stapler.

Final product!

In Bible we read about the man that was healed after his friends lowered him from the roof to the feet of Jesus. Jesus told the man, "Pick up your mat and walk".
We made mats. Normally I'd make these out of paper, but knowing that Jie Jie would tear the paper we used felt. I put a safety pin at one end of the strip to use like a needle. I cut five slits in the green felt. Then I cut out three white and two red strips. After the first weave we stapled the strip down so she wouldn't pull the strip out each time. Then we stapled the other end of the strip after she finished weaving. I had to help her push the "needle" through, but she pulled it out on her own each time.

During her time at school with Ms. Jones, she has been working on tracing lines. Ms. Jones gave me these wonderful laminated tracing lines. I love them because there is a green dot and a red dot. Jie Jie knows that she should follow the yellow line until she gets to the red dot. Red means stop. If you would like to have these tracing worksheets click here.

"Carefully" pouring water...

Since it is winter we looked at two things. The first was a science experiment to see what water does when you put it in the freezer. So, Jie Jie poured water into a little container with he Lego polar bear and we put it in the freezer. After supper the fam got to see the results. Jie Jie laughed and laughed at the stuck polar bear. While we ate, I set it next to the heater and we watched the water melt. It was a good activity for all three kids.

The other winter activity we did this week was making her own book, The Colors of Winter. I downloaded this little book from Musings of Me. Each page is simple with a one word sentence. (eg. The scarf is purple.) We read it together and then Jie Jie colored the pages. She had more fun with this than I thought she would. If you'd like to do one click here.

We did other things this week that we will do all month like numbers and letters. I'll do a post on that another time to show you the fun activities I found to do with her.

And now for the sprinkles....it is about me. I entered a contest a few months ago with WOW! e-zine. I just found out today that I made it past the first round of judging. That means I'm in the top 100 or so of around 300 entries. (just sprinkles...) I'll find out in a few weeks if I made the top 10, which is the second round. Anyway, I haven't won, but it sure did brighten my day just getting that fun bit of news in my inbox. =)

About Me

I’m a wife, a mother, and a writer living in Asia. My “Fusion Family” consists of my German husband, my son, my daughter with a genetic disorder (Cri-Du-Chat), and my adopted daughter from China. I can be found here writing about life, my thoughts, and writing.
You can also find me over at www.raisingmytcks.wordpress.com writing about raising kids in a different country than your own passport country.